Japanese zoologists have discovered a new species of seahorses

In the South-East of Japan zoologists have discovered a new species of seahorses – Hippocampus japapigu, that is, “Japanese pig”.

“They eat plankton and they are very active, even playful. But in General, almost nothing known about them,” say the researchers.

In the South-East of Japan zoologists have discovered a new species of seahorses – Hippocampus japapigu, that is, “Japanese pig”. The name of the miniature animal was because it was first noticed divers it looked like a pig

Earlier, local divers noticed the “pygmy” seahorse at depths of 5-22 m on coral reefs, but a scientific description he had received only recently.

“Japan is a global hot spot of marine biodiversity, there have been four truly miniature seahorses” – write in the study, biologists at the University of Texas.

Representatives of the Hippocampus japapigu in size – about the size of a grain of rice, not more than 15 mm in length. To hide from predators, the animal is colorful and flat: MicroNet scraps of algae.

So look closely related “Japanese” seahorses:

Seahorse is a highly modified during evolution fish-needle. They live in tropical and subtropical seas, are sedentary, attaching the flexible tails to the stalks of plants and changing the color of the body, completely merging with the background. An interesting feature is that they have offspring carrying the male.

This genus is on the verge of extinction. In the Red book listed 30 species of skates of the 32 known to science.